International Hair Freezing Contest — the Jelly Hairdresser Contest
Ice Hairdressing Competition · Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs, near Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
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The festival
By −20°C, your hairstyle becomes an ice sculpture. At the hot springs Eclipse, near Whitehorse, the bathers dive into water at about 40°C, shape wet hair and beard in extravagant shapes, and let the ice-cold air freeze them in a few minutes in spectacular white frost sculptures. The result is photographed, the bell ringed, and the melted back.
Created in 2011, the contest won a Guinness world record: 288 participants with hair frozen simultaneously, in 2020.
The official ritual takes three steps: soaking his head entirely in the hot spring to wet his hair; letting the cold air freeze them slowly — eyebrows and eyelashes included — keeping his ears warm in the water; and then, when the hair has become white of frost, ring the bell near the entrance of the basin so that the team will come take the official photo. The competition rewards six categories — Best Female, Best Male, Best Group (2 people and more), Most Creative, People's Choice and Best Facial Hair — with $2,000 for the winner in each category. The 2025-2026 edition is over: its winners are to be discovered on the official website of the contest.
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The festival in images
Official photos of the contest, published on its official website hairfreezingcontest.com (official gallery).
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To see around the festival
The hot springs are half an hour's drive from Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. The city and its immediate surroundings are worth a visit: a basalt canyon, a giant of the gold rush and the ice age mammoths. Discover the places in detail
- Miles Canyon — south of Whitehorse: the Yukon River narrows between millions of-year-old basalt cliffs; it crosses the Robert Lowe suspension bridge.
- The S.S. Klondike — National Historic Site (Parks Canada): the large restored wheeled-up vessel that refuelled the Klondike Gold Rush, moored on the banks of the Yukon River.
- Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre — near Whitehorse Airport: the Ice Age Yukon, its mammoths and its first inhabitants, of full size.
Good to know
Event entirely weather dependent: the contest only takes place on days when air drops to -20°C or lower during the winter season (December to March). Organized by Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs (Km 10, Takhini Hot Springs Road, near Whitehorse) — the former Takhini Hot Springs. Prize: $2,000 for the winner of each of the six categories (official website of the contest). The 2025-2026 edition is over; the winners are published on hairfreezingcontest.com. Photo credit: © Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs — official photos (hairfreezingcontest.com).